Ramban

"...And
you returned and wept before the Eternal." [1:45]

There (Num. 14:11)
Scripture did not mention this weeping, for there was no need to mention it. But
Moshe mentioned it now as praise that they regretted their sin, and to tell them
that "this sin was too great to forgive" (see Den. 4:13) because the
great oath [of G-d] had already been pronounced, and "a Heavenly decree accompanied
by an oath cannot be torn." (Rosh Hashana 18a)

Rabbeinu Bachya

"... for the judgment is
G-d's." [1:17]

A kabbalistic approach: the words 'for the judgment
is G-d's' (ki hamishpat le elo-heem) emphasize the connection between shofet
and din (judge and justice). The judge receives his input, inspiration
from the attribute of gevurah, also known as the attribute of Justice,
midat ha-din. This is the reason why the Judge of the universe is known
as elo-heem, seeing He draws on that emanation gevurah situated on the
left side of the diagram of the emanations. Seeing that G-d, i.e. the attribute
elo-heem is described by Assaph (Psalms 82:1) as both G-d and judge, it
is not surprising that the attribute elo-heem is applied by the Torah to
judges who perform G-d's work.Then the Torah (Exodus 22:8) speaks of " the
causes of both parties shall come before G-d", the meaning is not that the
dispute has to be submitted to G-d, but that it be submitted to mortal judges.
Seeing the judge performs G-d's function, he is accorded this title. If such title
is accorded to man, on occasion, it is most certainly also accorded to angles
who, by definition, always perform G-d's work as his agents. Both the angels and
the mortal judges receive their input from the attribute of Justice, the emanation
gevurah.

You should appreciate that seeing the emanation is situated
on the left side of the diagram of the emanations, as is know from Ezekiel 1:1-
"and the face of the ox was on the left" (of the chayot), the
Great Sanhedrin was also known as sharrech (navel) (Song of Songs 7:3).
Rashi explains that its seat was at the navel of the earth, in the center, at
the Temple. The office where the deliberations were held was known as liskat
hagazit, the office of "cutting", i.e. where definitive judgments
were made, where after deliberations the judgment became (in colloquial terms)
"cut and dried" (compare Midot 5:4).

Alsheich

"The L-rd heard the sound of your
words...and swore..." [1:34]

After the dramatic manner in which
Moses had described the sin of the people and the spies, the fact that none of
the people died at an age younger than 60, could have made it appear that the
sin could not have been all that serious. To prevent such a feeling, Moses lists
G-d's kindness which was operative when the people died over a 40 year period.
He had not acted from the attribute of justice. Secondly, He had reacted only
to the sound, to the thoughts which had actually been voiced, not to the as yet
unspoken thoughts. Previously, in Shelach Lecha, G-d had stated that the children
would inherit the land which the older generation had despised, a thought which
had not actually been voiced by the people, but proof that G-d was well aware
of the people's feelings on the subject. The reason G-d had used an oath, was
to prevent the attribute of justice at a later date intensifying the decree, making
it worse.

Ohr HaChayim

" which Moses spoke,
etc." [1:1]

Inasmuch as Moses commences with hinting at Israel's
insubordination already at the Sea of Reeds, the present generation might well
have countered that there was no point in dragging up sins committed by people
who had long since died. After all, the last of the 600,000 men whose death had
been decreed as a result of the sin of the spies had died on the 15th of Av previously.
The Torah therefore teaches that if Moses had spoken in G-d's name, such a complaint
might have been justified. However, Moses personally was not bound by such considerations
and he considered it important to remind those who had been younger than twenty
at the time of the Exodus to look back on a string of insubordinations the people
had been guilty of already at that stage of the Exodus. While it was quite true
that the Celestial Court sentences only people above the age of 20, the same is
not true of courts administered by judges on earth who consider males over 13
years as fully liable for their actions. When Moses "dragged" up these
ancient sins, he had in mind all those who had been at least 13 years old at the
time.

Sources

Ramban
- credits Adapted from the 13th century classic by the illustrious scholar,
philosopher and defender of the faith, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman-known as 'RAMBAN'
or 'Nachmanides', a master kabbalist in his own right and a major link in the
transmission of Jewish mysticism-based on the excellent annotated English translation,
Nachmanides on the Torah, by Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel

Bachya
- credits Selected with permission from the seven-volume English edition of
The Torah Commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu
Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340] of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding
pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the "Rashba"), a main disciple of
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban"). Several books have been written
about the Kabballah-based portions of R. Bachya's commentary.

Alsheich
- credits Adapted from Torat Moshe - the 16th commentary of Rabbi Moshe Alshech,
the "Preacher of Zefat" on the Torah, as translated and condensed in
the English version of Eliyahu Munk)

Ohr
HaChayim - credits Selected with permission from the
five-volume English edition of Ohr HaChaim: the Torah Commentary of Rabbi Chaim
Ben Attar, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk. The holy Rabbi Chayim
ben Moses Attar was born in Sale, Western Morocco, on the Atlantic in 1696. His
immortal commentary on the Five Books Of Moses, Or Hachayim, was printed in Venice
in 1741, while the author was on his way to the Holy Land. He acquired a reputation
as a miracle worker, hence his title "the holy," although some apply
this title only to his Torah commentary.